Minogue Kylie - Kylie Naked: A Biography

By Nigel Goodall

When people found out, in early 2002, that I had become attached to this book as the second author, at the eleventh hour, I was bombarded with questions. What is Kylie like, how was it to meet her, is she really that tiny, when did you last interview her, and if you interview her again, can they come along? But sadly, there was no time to ask her if she would be interested in co-operating with an unauthorised biography to be published to coincide with her massive arena tour of the UK and Europe in April 2002. Even though that would have been my preferred course of action.

All the same, my intent, as was Jennys, was to present a sensitive and truthful account of Kylie Minogue as a tribute to her and her legion of fans. And although, strangely, I would never have called myself a fan before, I do now. As I mention in our acknowledegments, its the joy of writing biography, and certainly that has been true for me when I first started my research. When I watched her on An Audience With and Live in Sydney , especially, I was simply captivated.

Before I had a chance to meet Kylie, after the original publication of this book, I was told that barefoot, she stood only a little over five feet. Certainly that was true, but equally true was the fact that by the time Kylie was 33, she had enjoyed a career of truly phenomenal proportions.

When I penned this introduction in 2002, she then held a position in the music world rarely seen. Then, with almost fifteen years behind her as a significant recording artist and more than twenty as an accomplished actress, she was, and still is, in the enviable position to compete both commercially and critically with every one of her musical peers, both male and female.

She is the comeback queen who never went anywhere, through her own desire to progress, improve and reinvent, she has made herself irreplaceable. But at the same time, she remains untainted and as fresh as the day she first stepped into the spotlight, but now with more drive and ambition than ever before.

By the time this book came out, she had released eight studio albums, six long-play videos, greatest hits and live packages, a multitude of other hits and remix compilations, and thirty-eight hit singles throughout the world, many of which are today correctly regarded as pop classics. Her most recent then, Cant Get You Out Of My Head ended up as the number one record in almost every territory in which it was released. Not only that but it has sold literally in its millions, and repeated much the same success across America in 2002. And least we forget the album, Fever , from which the single was taken. Like the single, it too, has enjoyed the same success, both here in Britain and throughout the world.

Add to this, the successful roles on both television and movie screen, and you have a rollercoaster ride of a career. Today, Kylie could not be more successful if she tried. At long last, talent has won through, and almost miraculously she has gained the credit and critical acclaim that has for so long evaded her.

Looking back to June 1991, following the release of her thirteenth single, Shocked , the British music industry bible, Music Week , declared what a musical force Kylie had become. The only act in the history of British popular music to have had her first thirteen releases all go top ten. She has now had thirty-one consecutive hits in Britain, and thirty-eight worldwide, twenty-one of which have reached the top ten, and six of those reaching number one.

Even now, she remains one of the worlds most successful female musical artists, probably more than she has ever known before. Not that it was quite as simple as that in the beginning. She had more or less grown up in front of the camera since aged eleven. And probably pleased to have maintained the integrity with which she entered show business in the first place. The first of her acting roles was in the Australian television drama series Skyways , and was followed by more in other popular dramas such as The Sullivans, Zoo Family and The Henderson Kids .